Wierd 11+ interview question

[11plusjourneymum]

Hey everyone! I'm new to mumset and the 11+! My DS has recently completed his 11+ exams (grammar and independent schools) and is now interviewing at schools where he passed the exams. He had an interview at Hampton boys recently, which went well, but one of the interviewees asked him if he had a tutor. My DS replied honestly that he had a tutor for Maths and English. Isn't that a wierd question to ask? How will they use this information and for what purpose? My DS had a english and maths tutor in the final 4 months, I hope being honest will not go against him and they will not assume that he is over-tutored? I'm so anxious!!

Can't see why that's weird, seems a reasonable q.

Well the point is what are they trying to establish with that question? If they are trying to establish if the child has been over-tutored, then just asking that one question is not going to give them that information. Has anyone else been asked this?

It’s not a weird question at all.

Not sure what the "correct" answer is. What happens if there are 2 boys who have the same scores and did equally well in the interviews, one said he was tutored, the other did not. Who would the school pick? If you assume the non-tutored boy was honest, then you would pick the one that did not require additional help, as it could show natural brightness? Really tough one. I personally would advise my son to say he was not.

My son was asked that at Hampton 10 plus and said yes- for exam practice etc.
better to answer honestly - they know that 99% of boys have tutors!

@itsanewera seems like a common question for Hampton then. Did you son get an offer?

Yes- for 10 plus

@itsanewera thats wonderful! Congratulations. Thanks for responding, I've been so anxious last few days!

As Caps1974 said. I suspect if he had said "no", he would have been asked further open-ended questions about how he prepared for the exam with just enough rope to hang himself on if lying. As well as being used to judge his natural ability vs ability to be tutored, it could also give a pretty good idea of his honesty and character!
It seems like a very normal question to me too.

@11plusjourneymum - is your son at a state or prep school?

@itsanewera he goes to a local prep school. He is a bright boy, exceptional in Maths, but literally everyone in his class got tutions. I think it would have been quite hard to compete for the top school exams without the tution - as you would know, peforming well in these exams is not just about intelligence, a lot of it is if you are able to solve problems under time pressure etc, which the tution was helpful for. I know kids who were tutoring since year 4, for us we felt our DS just needed a final push in the last 4 months.

@SkankingWombat agreed - I'm glad he answered honestly, I just hope the interviewer shares our viewpoints though :)!

Well - I would have to disagree.....You can certainly prepare for that question and how to answer it, such as parents etc....
If the interview is going to be based on trying to catch all kids who say no then what a waste of time.

I really wouldn't worry but I remember thinking exactly the same as you when DS said he'd been asked that question!
As I said they know that pretty much everyone is tutored these days and far better be honest and natural in an interview than worrying about giving the 'right' answer. Good luck!

At least they are asking directly. At Ibstock they asked the children the same. I think it may not be used on an individual basis but the school would like to know for their own purposes.

The more indirect way schools often ask is "how did you spend your holidays?" "what do you do in your spare time?" "what do you do on weekends"? "What do you do on Saturday mornings"?

I wouldn't worry about it, no decision would be based on the answer to that question.

Yes to this- DS got asked at another interview what he was going to do the rest of the weekend- he said play computer games. If he'd said 'practice my cello' all weekend I'm not sure that would have been ideal either! It's 10 year old boys were talking about! ( he doesn't play the cello - just an example!)

I would imagine most boys would have tutors if only to help practice how to approach certain questions.

I'd assume they'd be interested to know how someone prepared if they said no. That may go for them but I don't imagine having a tutor would mean they are marked down, IYSWIM.

I would expect that question tbh and I think it’s good that he told the truth because he might have accidentally contradicted himself later and the schools obviously want kids with good honest behaviour.
Since the majority are tutored, I wouldn’t worry. I wouldn’t expect my child to be asked how much tutoring he has per week and for how long though. Kids can get muddled up with that question.

DS was asked the same last year. He said yes and was later offered a place. I don't think they would hold that against any child.

Every circumstance is different, but for my dd, I told her if she was asked that question, to be honest of course, but to explain further. That she was tutored from end of Year 5 for a few months to make sure she covered the curriculum as coming from a state school, they would not have covered everything that is on the 11+ until later in the year, which would put her in a disadvantage from prep schools, that have covered everything prior to. But she was never asked.

Thanks all for the reassuring messages! We don't hear about the outcome until early Feb. Fingers crossed. Trying hard not to think too much about it!!

hi all, this is very helpful.
My DD also doing Athena Assessment at Putney High next week and Francis Holland (SS) this week.

Both are a 2hr affair with a group session / creative challenge / interview.

Any intel very welcome please!?? In particular, regarding the 'creativity challenge'

Also for PHS and FHSS - does anyone know what % of the interviewees get an offer?

thanks so much

@11plusjourneymum my DS got asked this at Hampton too (he’s had a tutor for a few months for English and I helped him with his maths but he didn’t have a tutor for maths, so he said that). I think it’s probably a fairly standard question and they usually get similar answers but maybe it’s to try to highlight anyone who has spent all their time being tutored. I wouldn’t worry too much. It doesn’t sound like your DS’s answer would be particularly unusual.

He was also asked what state school he’d go to if not a private one - which I assume was trying to find out who might go for Tiffin (we didn’t apply there). He was a bit confused by that one.

It's a reasonable question. I'd assume they are trying to gauge potential relative to current attainment.

Silly question really as most adults in this process tend to play down tutoring to others in the same process. It’s therefore unreliable as a gauging question.